Pages

Wednesday, 1 May 2013

Violetta the Pirate Queen

By Sarah Begg

The audience went
wild with applause as the cast completed their encore piece and each
of the main actors stepped forward to take their bow.

Violetta was last,
of course, sweeping forward in her pirate queen costume. The audience
jumped to their feet in a standing ovation, some even forgetting
themselves and letting out loud cheers and screams as she bent
forward in an elaborate bow. Relishing the attention and catching one
particularly lovely flower as it was thrown towards her, she blew
kisses to the audience and smiled coquettishly at the rich potential
benefactors sitting in the front row until the curtain fell and
concealed her fans.

Ignoring the
fawning cast members that tried to approach her, she left the stage
haughtily and returned to her private dressing room, closing the door
firmly once inside.

“What a charming
performance,” a deep and foreboding voice came from behind her.

Violetta started
and spun around, about to demand that the intruder leave her chamber
immediately. But the words caught in her throat as soon as she saw
the man standing behind her.

At first, he might
have been mistaken for a cast member – his waist-coat and breeches
were impeccably clean, he had a crimson sash tied about the waist and
a matching crimson feather in his hat. But Violetta spotted the rich
gold chains about his neck and jewel encrusted rings on every finger.
He also wore an eye patch over one eye and the scar that Violetta
could see running out from beneath this and across his cheek made her
blood run cold.

She had learnt all
she could about the dreaded Captain Mordensa when she was preparing
for her role on stage – he was, after all, the most fearsome pirate
the country had known in hundreds of years. So ruthless and deceptive
that his crimes were well known even when the Captain himself was
never to be found. His reputation for appearing and disappearing
without a sound was told to small children to frighten them.

Violetta swallowed,
drew herself up straight, and tried to make her voice steady when she
spoke.

“What do you
want?”

Captain Mordensa
chuckled and took a step towards her.

“My dear, do not
fear for your safety. I have not come here to harm you, I have come
to employ you for the night.”

“Sir, I am an
actress!” Violetta spluttered her outrage. “I am not available
for hire in the evenings!”

Again he chuckled,
and stepped towards her again. She tried to back up as far as
possible, but already she was pressed against the dressing table.

“No,
my dear, that is not what I meant. I require your skills as an
actress. There is a scene already taking place not far from here, and
one of the main characters has yet to arrive. That is where you come
in.”

“Oh,”
Violetta was frantically casting about for an escape from the room.
Why had she been so
insistent on not allowing visitors into her dressing room after a
show? “Well, I am under contract to this theatre. I am not allowed
to perform anywhere else.”

The pirate grinned, displaying an array of golden teeth. “Do not
worry, darling, this will be a private performance. And don't worry
about trying to escape before you have played your part – if you do
not perform as I expect, I will kill you. If you perform properly,
however, you may return home later this evening and forget that you
ever had dealings with Captain Mordensa.”

An hour later Violetta sat nervously in the back of an ornate
carriage, as it bumped along the cobbled roads of the city. The
carriage had been locked from the outside so that she couldn't escape
– not that she would dare try after Captain Mordensa's repeated
warnings about her imminent death if she did not cooperate. Closing
her eyes, she focused on the character she would be playing for the
night as a way to calm her mind.

Her
name was Countess Valova, a young but wealthy widow of the city.
Captain Mordensa assured her that the gentlemen they would be meeting
that night had never been to the city before and so would not
recognise her, but even so she had been given a wig of tightly wound
golden curls and a trembling maid had painted her face expertly so
that her features seemed altered from their norm. In fact, she was
completely unrecognisable from Violetta, star of the Royal Bibalski
Theatre.

She had been briefed very carefully on the role she would play that
night, the lines she must say, and despite the fear she had felt
earlier, a small glimmer of excitement began to uncurl itself in her
belly. If she pulled this off, not only would she survive the night,
she was sure it would also be one of her greatest acting
achievements.

Suddenly the carriage pulled to a halt, the door was thrown open and
the play began.

Countess Valova swept from the carriage, clutching her rich furs
about her chest.

“Where is he?” she demanded in a loud and piercing voice. “Where
is the scoundrel?”

“This way my lady,” a fawning servant bowed and ushered her into
the dingy and rather dangerous looking bar they had stopped in front
of.

She did not have to act in her disgust for the place, but she did
make a careful point of glaring haughtily at every filthy patron in
the room, as she had been instructed to do.

“If you please, my lady,” the servant was ushering her towards
the back of the dubious establishment where a door led to a private
parlour.

“Yes, let us make this quick, before my slippers become soiled in
this detritus.” She pitched her voice so it would carry.

When she entered the parlour her character's facade did not drop, but
she felt her heart skip a beat. Aside from Captain Mordensa sitting
in a luxurious parlous chair and dressed even more luxuriously than
he had been earlier, there was a group of three exotic men seated
opposite him.

She surveyed the strangers with the slightest flicker of her eyes and
felt a small trill of excitement – from the looks of them they were
part of the notorious Black Sailors, a gang of merciless pirates from
across the seas whom she had also researched extensively.

Lifting her chin in a commanding manner she addressed Captain
Mordensa in her most cutting voice. “If you have brought me here on
a wild goose chase, Captain, I will ensure that you never set foot in
this city again.”

There was a pause as everyone in the room surveyed her and she glared
back at each of them, hoping none could see the drumming pulse in her
neck.

Captain Mordensa cleared his throat.

“Gentlemen, as mentioned previously, Countess Valova is willing to
pay a hefty price for the return of her late husbands amulet.”

The leader of the Black Sailors, as Violetta was sure he was, stroked
his beard as he surveyed her.

“Show us the gold,” he spoke in a clipped accent.

“Not before you have shown me the amulet,” Violetta countered,
stepping forward menacingly.

The leader chuckled, then glanced with amusement at Captain Mordensa.

“As you wish, my lady,” he replied and reached slowly into a
pocket of his coat.

A small parcel was produced, and from within an exquisitely carved,
ornate medallion on a solid gold chain.

Violetta played the next part to perfection, falling on the amulet
and weeping, pressing it to her cheek and muttering affectionately.
She even put in a believable swoon, practically falling on the table
before recovering herself.

“The
gold, my lady,” the
Black Sailors had become agitated during her performance, concerned
with their reward.

“Oh, oh of course” Violetta pulled the coin purse that Captain
Mordensa had given her earlier from her skirt and threw it carelessly
on the table before making a pointed attempt to recover her composure
while still clutching the amulet to her chest as if she could never
part with it.

“Well
then, gentlemen, I certainly have what I came for and I believe you
have too.” She said, drawing her haughty composure back again.
“Now, I pray that I never have to set foot in this establishmentagain. Good evening sirs.”

And with that she was gone, sweeping from the tavern as quickly as
she could, climbing back into the carriage and flopping down on the
plush seat as the carriage pulled away.

The journey back passed in a heartbeat and soon they were pulling up
out the back of the humble Royal Bibalski Theatre.

When the carriage door opened Captain Mordensa was standing there
waiting, hand outstretched to relieve her of the medallion.

She felt lightheaded as she climbed out of the carriage, not quite
believing that the ordeal was over. She handed the medallion to him
as she passed, and made for the door to the theatre.

“You did well, my dear,” the Captain caught her arm and whispered
in her ear as she went to push through the door. “Who knows,
perhaps I will have need of your services again.” He grinned at
her, then pressed a small coin purse into her palm. “For your
trouble.”

Stunned and frozen to the spot by the payment, by the time she spun
around the Captain had already vanished into the night, the carriage
just seen disappearing around the end of the street.

Violetta turned back to the familiar theatre door and paused before
pushing it open, weighing the purse in her hand as she considered. So
used to playing exciting characters on a stage had she become, that
she had forgotten how exciting real situations could be. Perhaps it
was time for her to start her life afresh as a real life pirate
instead of a pretend one.